Queen II Barzal

Chapter Forty-One: Tyler

 We did lose to the Rangers the other night, but Finn and my return made the team in better sync. Finn has been one of the best rookies the NHL has had and he's a big part of the team. I have had many points in my playoff career for these past few years, so I guess the team missed me.

We came to the game in MSG and we were hyped. We were ready to take the big win that would give us a boost to get to the next round.

"Are you guys okay?" Tegan asked me and Finn. "We missed you the other night,"

"We're good," Finn said. "We're gonna go out and play like we mean it,"

"And we're winning that damn cup," I added.

In the first period, we came out strong and fast, which was no match for the Rangers. We scored 2 goals in the period. There were no fights... yet. The first fight erupted when the Rangers scored, but I drew a penalty before they got the goal. The guy who scored didn't think it was a penalty, so he threw a punch at me. The guys tried helping me out by picking a Rangers guy to fight with. All 3 offense members were sent to the box from both teams. They didn't get that goal, but when we were in the box, they scored one.

By the end of the second period, they got another goal and it was 2-2. In the third, we were hungry for more. I was on a breakaway, but I had pressure. Luckily, Tegan was just as fast as I was and he was open. I gave him a smooth pass and he shot it in. I skated to him as he scored and hugged him as well as the rest of the team.

"Good pass, Barzy," He smiled, hitting the top of my helmet.

"Great goal, T," I lightly punched his arm.

We skated to the bench and got fist bumps from the team. We sat down and I got a sip of water.

The Rangers scored a goal, tying it up in the last four minutes. They had a powerplay and I was in the box for cross-checking. I huffed, wondering if I fucked up the game. I watched carefully as the Rangers' defense kept the puck. Finn challenged them and got a hold on the puck.

"Rocket!" I shouted from the box.

Finn was on fire going towards the net. He faked and shot off of his backhand. He lifted his fist in the air as the puck hit the back of the net.

"Fuck yes!" I smiled. I still had 20 seconds left in the box which would bring us to the last minute of the game.

When my time was up, I sprinted out of the box. When the horn sounded, the team crowded around our goaltender, Nikolas Serkashta, by the net. He was probably one of the stars of the game, making 34 ridiculous saves on 37 shots.

We had to win the next game to get to the next round. Coach made specific drills to help take shots on the Rangers' goaltender. Watching the game again, we realized that most of the shots we made were glove side. Their goaltender can't make glove side saves, so that's where we were aiming in the next game.

I took a deep breath as I got ready for the first faceoff of the game against Garet Cohan.

"Save a fight for me, Barzal?" He asked.

"Bet on it," I said. "Imma kick your ass,"

"That's funny," He laughed.

"Cause it's true?" I asked.

"You wish," He looked at me, then the puck in the ref's hand.

I won the faceoff and brought it back to my teammates. We had the puck in their zone for a good minute before they cleared it for an icing call. I went to the bench, out of breath.

"You good, Ty?" Finn asked.

"Better than ever," I smiled.

"Great," He smiled back before going on the ice for his shift.

On my next shift, I scored my second goal of the playoffs. I was surrounded by my teammates as they congratulated me. We scored another before I went back on the ice. I looked up at the scoreboard, it was 2-0. We had three minutes left in the period. I skated to a loose puck in the Rangers zone, but Cohan landed a heavy hit on me. I fell to the ground and hopped back up. Lucas pushed his chest and Garet pushed back. I pulled Lucas out of the way so he could get a piece of Dougie Tamenson again. The refs pulled Garet and me apart after I threw a few punches.

"Great job kicking my ass, Cohan," I chirped at him as I skated to the box.

A few seconds after my time in the box ended, the period ended. We skated to the locker room still with the 2-0 lead. We went through important plays and concepts before going back out.

I assisted Zapata's goal and scored another in the second period. The Rangers tried to keep up, but we already had the 4-0 lead by the end of the period. No goals by either team were scored in the third period. The whole team hopped off of the bench as we crowded around each other on the ice.

"Round two baby, let's go!"